Connector for holding articles together



Aug. 26, 1969 F.G.MESER 3,462,802

CONNECTOR FOR HOLDING ARTICLES TOGETHER Original Filed Nov. 21. 1967 6 May) w-W Jig United States Patent 3,462,802 CGNNECTOR FOR HOLDING ARTICLES TOGETHER Francis G. Merser, Framingharn, Mass., assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass., a corporation of Nevada Continuation of application Ser. No. 684,685, Nov. 21, 1967. This application Apr. 15, 1968., Ser. No. 721,365 Int. Cl. B6511 63/16 US. Cl. 24-16 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A connector comprising a filament having a socket and a series of heads distributed along the filament to snap through the socket to form loops of different sizes.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 684,685, filed Nov. 21, 1967 and now Patent No. 3,422,499.

Objects of the invention are to provide a device for joining articles together, which is neat and attractive in appearance, and which can connect articles or groups of articles of different sizes.

According to this invention the connector comprises a filament, a socket on the filament, and a series of heads distributed along the filaments to snap through the socket to form loops of different sizes, each head being slightly larger than the socket and the socket being resilient so that insertion of a head produces expansion of the socket and after the head has been inserted the socket snaps in behind the head to restrain withdrawal of the head from the socket, the spacing between the heads being substantially equal to the depth of the socket so that, when the socket snaps behind a head, the next succeeding head seats in the mouth of the socket to hold the heads in place. Preferably the socket is circular and each head is conical and the socket is slotted to facilitate expansion. In the preferred embodiment the end of the filament for insertion through the socket has an elongate enlargement to facilitate insertion.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a top view;

FIG. 2 is a side view;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view;

FIG. 4 is a section on line 44 of FIG. 3 showing the enlarged end of the filament partly inserted through the socket; and

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing one head snapped through the socket and the next succeeding head seated in the mouth of the socket.

3,462,802 Patented Aug. 26, 1969 The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises a filament 1, a socket 2 on one end of the filament, an elongate enlargement 3 on the other end of the filament to facilitate insertion of the filament through the socket as shown in FIG. 4 and a series of heads distributed along the filament. As disclosed in my pending application Ser. No. 633,782, filed Apr. 26, 1967, the connector is molded in a single integral piece of nylon or other thermoplastic material which is resilient and the socket is slotted to form prongs 6 to snap in behind the heads 4 as shown in FIG. 5. Preferably the socket is circular as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and the heads are conical as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. The heads are slightly larger than the socket so that they seat on the mouth of the socket as shown in FIG. 5 and must be forced through the socket, the heads contracting slightly and the socket expanding slightly due to their resiliency.

A salient feature of the invention consists in that the spacing between the heads is substantially equal to the depth of the socket so that, when the socket snaps behind a head, the next succeeding head seats in the mouth of the socket as shown in FIG. 5 to hold the filament against back-and-forth movement.

I claim:

1. A connector comprising a filament, a socket on the filament, and a series of heads distributed along the filaments to snap through the socket to form loops of different sizes, each head being slightly larger than the socket and the socket being resilient so that insertion of a head produces expansion of the socket and after the head has been inserted the socket snaps in behind the head to restrain withdrawal of the head from the socket, the spacing between the heads being substantially equal to the depth of the socket so that, when the socket snaps behind a head, the next succeeding head seats in the mouth of the socket to hold the heads in place.

2. A connector according to claim 1 wherein the socket is slotted to facilitate expansion.

3. A connector according to claim 1 wherein the socket is circular and each head is conical.

4. A connector according to claim 1 wherein the end of the filament opposite the socket has an elongate enlargement to facilitate insertion through the socket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,265,426 8/1966 Brooks et al. 292307 3,290,080 12/1966 Dawson 292322 DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 292322 

